


The Nineth Day

by witchGender



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 11:04:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6192550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchGender/pseuds/witchGender
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been eight days of hell and Axel was beginning to wonder if his life was just destined to suck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nineth Day

It had been eight days of hell and Axel was beginning to wonder if his life was just destined to suck.

On day one, he had lost his job. Granted, it was a shit job to begin with, just driving a delivery truck for a local grocery store, but it had paid his bills. On day two, his motorcycle had taken a shit, so he had had to drag his ancient bike out of the garage, where it had been marinading in rust and high school shame for a couple years, and use it to ride to town. On day three, he had gotten a killer flu that had kept him home until day six. But he got no breaks, since on day six, while he was riding to town for groceries, a car had turned too fast and hit his back wheel, sending him into the mud. His bike was fine, but he was covered in bruises, and his most recent dye job was ruined when he washed all the mud out of his hair. On day seven, he had to pay his bills, and his bank account was lessened considerably. On day eight, he spent most of his time staring at the ceiling of his room, trying to figure out where else in his shitty little town he could get a job, and if the money he still had would last him until then.

It was day nine, and he had peddled to the local bar to get smashed and forget all the math he had done the day before.

Axel felt a hand pat his head and he groaned, knowing it was the bartender, a man by the name of Xigbar, who had been a friend of Axel's since his childhood. “Xiggy, pour me another one, would you?” he mumbled, his words only just starting to slur. The barkeep gazed at him sadly through his single good eye before opening another bottle of beer.

“You know kid, you're making a mistake, drinking away your last pay check like this.”

“I know.”

“You're gonna regret it tomorrow, for multiple reasons.”

“I know.”

“You might not be able to keep yourself from doing it again.”

“Goddammit I know, would you lay off me? I've had a shit week and I just want to feel, for a moment, like everything's gonna be okay and I'm not gonna end up a bum on the street with hair matts and a face as thin as Vexen's.” Xigbar laughed at that, sliding a full glass towards Axel.

“You're lucky he's not here, he'd break your neck.”

“I'd like to see him try.” the redhead muttered just as the bar door burst open behind him.

“Uncle Xiggy! It's me!” cried an excited voice. Axel turned, squinting at the light coming through the doorway. The speaker was a young man, probably just around his age, with a messy blond mohawk and a worn out denim jacket. He had some kind of instrument case on his back, and he looked vaguely familiar.

“Demyx! You young rascal, what are you doing here?” Xigbar cried, running out from behind the bar and hugging the youth. Demyx? Shit, right, Xigbar's nephew... Axel had barely any recollection of the boy, except that he used to visit in the summer when Axel was little and he always got sand in his hair because he was constantly on the beach. He watched as Xigbar guided Demyx behind the bar, as if there were any guests other than Axel, as if he had to keep up an appearance of professionalism.

“What are you doing, you haven't been in this neck of the woods since you were eight!”

“I know! I'm sorry I couldn't visit, but the whole move to Norway kind of screwed up any chance of coming back... It's alright though, I've graduated, so I can visit all summer, just like I used to!”

“You graduated?! God damn kid, I swear just yesterday I could pick you up with one arm...” Axel tuned out the family reunion in favor of staring into his glass. He wish he had a family to come back to. A family that would welcome him. A family that didn't leave him with his childhood home in exchange for never talking to them again. His thoughts were only interrupted when he heard a curious “Whose this?” and looked up again. His breathing stopped.

He hadn't previously gotten a good look at Demyx's face. Now he was looking him right in the eye, and oh god, how did lungs work again? The boy was gorgeous, skin sun-kissed and smooth, his ocean blue eyes shining like moonlight was reflecting in them. He looked curious, but also happy, as if whatever answer he got, he'd be delighted.

“... Axel. Name's Axel. Got it memorized?” He watched as those incredibly blue eyes went wide.

“Axel?! No way! The same Axel I used to play knights and naiads with?” Axel cringed. He had never liked the play-pretend type games as a kid.

“Yeah, I guess. So you do remember me?”

“Of course I do! Oh my god, you're so different! I like the hair, it makes you look punk as hell.” Axel snorted.

“Thanks.” He was surprised as the blond hurried back around the bar and sat next to him.

“Uncle, can I have a glass of water? I want to catch up with Axel.”

“Aw, not gonna pay attention to your old uncle Xiggy now that your kid pal is here?” Despite the ribbing, Xigbar gave Demyx a glass of ice water, put out the closed sign, and went on his lunch break. The moment he was gone, Demyx turned in his seat, bright face turned towards Axel.

“So what's happened? You should be out of school too by now, are you going to college? I bet not, you never were the academic type. Then again, you can't really tell from a nine-year-old.”

“You're right. No college. Not enough cash, or ambition.”

“So you're working, then?” The innocent question was chased by a harsh laugh.

“Was. Got fired last week.” Axel watched as the blue eyes went wide again.

“No way! Is that why you're here?”

“Hit the nail on the head.” He knocked back the rest of his drink and coughed a bit, annoyed that Xigbar was on break and couldn't get him another one. Demyx looked sad.

“I'm really sorry to hear that, Axel.”

“Yeah, well, shit happens.” He spun the empty glass. “Nothing to do but drink til I have hope again then pray I can get hired again before I starve.” He stopped spinning the glass and just stared into the melting ice at the bottom, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. The last thing he wanted was to cry in front of someone else.

“Why do you need to drink to get hope back?” Another laugh.

“Where else am I supposed to get it? My parents are gone. Left without a phone number, address, or email. You know there's no other people to hang with, only person who grew up here with me is Zexion, and he left to go to university. So I'm alone, jobless, and I'm going to drink until I fucking feel better.” He didn't know why he wasn't just telling Demyx to fuck off, it was probably the drink talking. He figured it would do no harm, until he felt a hand clamp around his arm. He flinched and turned, glaring. Demyx wore a determined expression.

“Come with me.”

“For what? You wanna fight or something?”

“What? No, don't be ridiculous. I'm gonna help you find hope somewhere that isn't the bottom of a booze bottle. I'm making a promise, right now. By the end of the day, you're gonna be happy again.” The words were spoken so firmly, so assuredly, that Axel almost wanted to believe them.

 

The rest of the day was spent trying every possible thing Demyx could think of to cheer Axel up. He forced the recently unemployed man into his vintage blue Volkswagen van and drove him to a salon a couple towns over, insisting on paying for a professional re-dye job for Axel.

“It's not, I dunno, manly to get it done at a salon!” Axel whined as Demyx dragged him in.

“Well no wonder your hair looks like shit! You do it yourself! Get in here.” He chatted with the lady at the desk for all of a half minute before Axel was suddenly sitting in a chair with a black plastic apron over his whole body and a middle-aged Latina woman stroking his hair.

“Remind me why you're doing this?” he asked, looking pleadingly at Demyx.

“Because I bet your hair looks fucking awesome when it's dyed properly, but for now, it looks like absolute shit. And I have the cash to spare.”  
“Right, about that, how exactly do you have the cash? Are mommy and daddy still giving you allowance?”

“They've offered, but I'm actually making all my own cash now.” Demyx commented as the woman trimmed Axel's hair. “I've started a band with a few of my school friends, and we're already getting popular. All my parents pay for is the gas for the bus.”

“A band?” He wasn't surprised, honestly. Demyx had the love for music and the parents willing to support him and the money to catch him if he crashed and burned.

“Yep. We're called the Unusual Minstrels. We're made up entirely of string instruments that your average american probably hasn't heard of. I'll play you one of our CDs when we're back in the car.” The conversation ended as Axel was subjected to a thorough dye job. He was rather disturbed by the stranger doing his hair, it was doing his personal space issues no favors, but by the end of it, he was extremely pleased. His hair was dyed evenly and brightly, all split ends trimmed, and it was even loosely styled, for once. Demyx seemed very pleased.

“There you go! Much better. Now you look like you give a fuck.”

“Why thank you, I'm so flattered.” Axel watched as Demyx paid, noting the bill was a bit steep. Was his band really popular enough for him to be doing this?  
Their next stop turned out to be a car dealership. “We're selling your old bike.” Demyx had announced. Axel's protests had been quickly replaced by fervent thanks when Demyx explained that he had every intent of helping him pick out a new one. “Something newer, but not brand new. You're just enough of a vintage guy to look good on a slightly older bike.” Axel had decided not to ask how Demyx seemed to know exactly what Axel would or wouldn't look good with. He just went with the flow of things, and by the late afternoon, they were driving back to his house with a beautiful old Harley Davidson with flame decals and a glistening black body. Axel nearly had tears in his eyes.

“You didn't need to do that.”

“Course I did. You needed some new wheels, and you're broke, and you're my friend. Friends look out for each other.”  
“So that means I gotta repay you at some point.”

“Well it would be kinda cool if you did, yeah.”

“How?”

“Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.”

 

By the time they had returned to Axel's house, it was early evening. They ate PB and J sandwiches (since Axel still had bread left in his house and Demyx happened to keep a rather large snack supply in his van, which even came equip with a mini fridge) and spent a good couple hours chatting about their respective high school experiences before Demyx stood up and announced that Axel needed to put on a coat, because they were going to the beach.

“Why?” Axel frowned, following the blond out of the kitchen. “I've gone to the beach hundreds of times. It's no fun anymore.”

“Because, silly, I know where to find some fun! I did some research before I got here, I know some spots where people like to host beach parties. We'll have to drive a bit, but that's okay. Now go get your coat on.” He shoved Axel into his room and ran off to his van. Sighing, Axel grudgingly pulled out his favorite black trench coat and slid it on. Pausing by his mirror, he straightened the coat and smoothed his hair a bit before deciding to screw it all and bring back something from his high school days. He fished a bottle of purple liquid eyeliner out of his bedside table and drew a quick line under each eye, finishing with a downward pointing flick on the top of each cheek bone. He stood back, admiring the effect. A bit scene kid, but it still looked nice, different, oddly flattering. He put the eyeliner away as he heard the bedroom door open.

“You ready?” Axel heard the comment before he saw the commenter. Turning, he was faced with Demyx, who had donned a pale denim jacket with black leather sleeves. It stopped just above his hips, his white braided belt visible under it, and with his hands tucked in the pockets and his slightly wind-swept hair, he looked like something off an indie album cover. Axel found his mouth to be oddly dry. He swallowed and cleared his throat.

“Yeah. You?”

“I was born ready. Nice makeup, by the way. Very 'lowkey metal fan'.”

They climbed back in the van and drove several miles down the coast. Demyx parked by a small section of beach that Axel had visited several times in daylight but never at night. They found a driftwood fire and a crowd of about twenty five teenagers and college kids, some of whom were drunk. There was a boom box and pair of decent speakers, although the music quality itself was questionable. Axel felt slightly awkward, and wondered for a moment if it was a private party, but the moment they were within view of the group, those that saw them merely cheered and crowded around them. Axel was swept up in a swirl of chattering voices, wood smoke, and shitty music. People talked to him, asked his name, shrieked over his hair, offered him drinks. He struggled to let go of his awkwardness as he chatted, trying to keep Demyx in sight. The blond seemed to have found a fan of his band, as he was signing some girl's T-shirt. Axel eventually gave in to someone tugging on his arm and joined a small group a short distance from the fire who were dancing, or as close to dancing as they could get.

Hours passed in a pleasant, fuzzy blur. Axel didn't drink but he felt like he had, buzzed on dancing and casual talk and stranger's laughter. Demyx eventually found him on the “dance floor”, grinning at him like it was Christmas morning.

“Having fun?” he asked, rocking his body a bit awkwardly. He was clearly more into making music than dancing to it.

“Hell yeah!” Axel grinned, dancing completely without restraint. He loved dancing, it always felt so freeing. Part of him realized he hadn't danced since his parents left town. Refusing to follow that train of thought, he grabbed Demyx's hand and pulled him closer, forcing the shorter boy to dance with him. Demyx stumbled slightly, his cheeks pink, but laughed and tried to follow along. Axel didn't know how long they dance stumbled together, but it felt like an hour, though it was probably only a song. Demyx's hands were warm, his face bright and covered in a thin layer of sweat, pale blue eyes shining in the firelight. At some point, Axel realized he was holding Demyx's waist instead of his hand. The blond didn't seem to mind, as he'd lazily draped his arms over Axel's shoulders. Several moments passed in peaceful silence before Demyx was suddenly tugging him towards the fire.

“Ax. Axel. The song's over.”

He blinked. “Oh.” He let Demyx lead him to the fireside, unsure of how long he had stood there, lost in the other boy's eyes. He sat on a driftwood log, Demyx joining him a second later.

“That was fun.”

“Mhm.”

“People seem to like you.”

“Mhm.”

“Think you'll come back to one of these things?”

“Maybe.”

“Not very talkative, for once.”

“Tired.”

“Shall we go home?” Axel could only nod in response, glad that he didn't have to drive. It seemed like only seconds later when they were stumbling through his front door. Coats were tossed on the floor. Axel quickly swept away Demyx's suggestion that he sleep in his van. They fell into Axel's bed in their boxers, only Axel still bothering to wear a shirt. As his eyes drifted shut, he realized two things. He had forgotten to take his eyeliner off, and Demyx, already asleep, was cuddling up to his side.

**Author's Note:**

> First Kingdom Hearts fic! I am determined to give the world more Axel/Demyx, since it's not nearly appreciated enough by the fandom.  
> I *might* write a sequel to this, which would include meeting the members of Demyx's band and more gay stuff with Demyx and Axel. Leave a comment if you want that!


End file.
